What I Really Really Want

Overexposed

Hands All Over

Sparkle via Etsy

Taupe Buckle Boots via Nectar

iPhone 5 Case via Etsy

Silver Guitar String Bangle via Etsy

Scoop of Sorbet via Modcloth

Stuff I Need. Seriously.

I love to shop but I hate shopping when I really need something -- because it feels like a chore and inevitably you don't find what you want. Case in point: black t-shirts. Costco has some great ModBod ones but they are, of course, always sold out in the size and color I would like. Others I find are too thin, not black enough, or stupid. And I need black t-shirts. Lots of them. So the list of things that I really really need to replace is growing. And I'm cutting my nose to spite my face because as the list grows, I start to hate looking for the items, and then I need the items even more because more time has elapsed and that means, I hate shopping for them even more. It's a vicious cycle.

1. panties
2. very sexy push-up bras
3. work pants
4. white t-shirts
5. black t-shirts
6. a purse
7. jeans
8. boots
9. tights and tall socks
10. sweaters/jackets

And for fun ...

1. a few more scarves
2. a couple more cardigans

Guarantee: I will buy more scarves and cardigans.

Image

Done!

What we accomplished today:

1. Tom swept and cleaned floors
2. contained blankets in nice new basket
3. gave the puppy a bath
4. cleaned the puppy's ears
5. Tom cleaned the toilet/bathtub/mirror
6. cleaned the bathroom sink, including surrounding sink accessories i.e., soap dispenser, toothbrush holder, q-tip jar, and mini-mirror
7. planned Monday dinner
8. scored 9 out of 10 on my accounting quiz
9. studied for Thursday's accounting midterm
10. bought puppy food
11. watched 3 or 4 episodes of The Sopranos
12. ate tomato soup
13. went to lunch with mom and dad
14. stopped @ Costco for cleaning wipes, laundry detergent, and avocados
15. took a nap

I love productive yet relaxing days.

Best Face Forward

For those of you who know me personally you know that I worry a lot about my face. Is it looking old? Am I mushing it too much? Should I be washing it more? And you know that I have very strong feelings about faces and what we should and shouldn't do to them. But really, I'm pretty lucky in the skin department and I find that as careful as I am, I sometimes abuse my face. Case in point: every morning I have to lick (that's right LICK) a cotton swab and wipe away the mascara schmearings that have left their traces overnight. So obviously I go to sleep with my makeup on. However. I don't want to push my good fortune and as I continuously age (every day by painful day) I want to make sure my face looks as fanastic as possible.

That said: I don't want to go crazy. I want easy, low-maintenance, skin care that won't turn me into a mirror obsessed woman. I like to go for periods of time where I abstain from makeup and when you're not wearing makeup your FACE has to look great all on its own; great meaning firm and dewy and delicious. The other day I looked at a picture of me wearing no make up and I looked ... not old ... but sort of tired, not my freshest and most appealing. I knew that the day would come when I would have to invest more time into maintaining my face, and that time is now.

I've heard super good stuff about the Olay line of anti-aging skin care so I went to their website and did an online skin care consultation. The consultation is just an in-depth questionnaire about what you expect from your products, what skin type you are, and how much work you're willing to do. Then you receive a nice laundry list of what products they recommend for you to use. Here's mine:

An anti-aging face wash that cleans "down to the pores"

A regenerating serum for pre-moisturizer application



Daily moisturizer for fighting the 7 signs of aging


I'm very excited to pick up these products and start using them. Apparently the serum is supposed to be SO awesome -- just read the reviews -- making your skin smooth and soft as baby bums. The Olay site also recommended an eye serum but that seemed like too much and I'll probably only use the regenerating serum in the mornings after I babywipe my face because I only wash my face in the shower because my skin is so flippin' dry I can overwash it, regardless of how gentle the soap is. I know that this goes against every piece of skincare advice out there, but one also has to listen to one's face. My face says, "if you wash me every day, I will crack." And I want to love the skin I'm in, not torture it. Well, not yet anyway.

Duvet Decision

Everyone knows that I love nothing more than new bedding.

My old duvet is ready for an overhaul.

Help me make up my mind and share your thoughts on these beauties.



#1: How beautiful is this! Navy with a bright floral.



#2: A chic zen leafiness.

#3: My walls are yellow; wouldn't my bedroom be so sunny?

#4: Not sure if this has enough color, but the pattern is beautiful.

#5: Similar to numero dos, very calm and peaceful.

The Good Fight

Ah, materialism.

I've been fighting you.

Fighting hard.

I'm purging and donating.

Books have been borrowed from the library,

rather than bought.

The closet has stayed the same size,

more or less.

But I hate my purse.

It mocks me with its cute shape

because inside is no where near enough room for

books,

water bottle,

wallet,

a snack.
I must ditch it for a new one.

So I've lost a small battle, but not the war.

And this beauty is on its way,

handmade just for me.



Lust

I want you.

I fell in love with you the minute, no, the second I saw you.

You and I will be noticed everywhere we go.
What a pair we'll make.
Come join my life (for $72.00 + S&H).
You won't be disappointed.
And neither will I.

@ Etsy, ret-ro-fied shop

Discontinued

I am one of those people who become hideously attached to things. And lately the world has done me a disfavor by trying to discontinue many products I consider vital to my existence. It started in the fall when I wanted to buy a duvet cover from Ikea...

"Do you know when you'll be getting anymore of these in?" I asked the sales girl (I say girl because she was younger than me)
"That line is being discontinued."
"No!" I shriek.
She nods her head in sympathy (false sympathy, I am soon to find out), "I know."
"Where can I get it now? Anywhere?"
"I guess you could look online, sometimes there are discontinued items there. Have you seen what is replacing it?"
Then she walks me over to a not-even-close-to-what-I-want duvet and says, "This is nice."
This is when I ask her if I can buy the floor model and when I begin to hate her.
"No, I'm sorry. I almost lost my job because I sold someone the floor model. We can't sell it if it's already been opened. Because, like, I don't know what could be on it, like blood born pathogens, you know?"

See? No sympathy. And, excuse me, Ikea, you sell opened shit all the time; it's called the "AS IS" section.

Anyway, so that happened. And sucked.

Next, I happened to notice that my particular brand of mascara was sometimes out of stock. But I didn't panic because it would be on the shelf next time. And then I would buy 2 of them, for good measure. However, now for the past couple months I CAN NOT find it. What am I going to do? I tried some new kinds, but I need the kind that curls your lashes because mine are pin straight. I'm almost out. I'm going to die.

And then there is this air freshener we like to use after the puppy goes number two. It's the best air freshener because it smells like green apples and fresh grass -- not like flowers and potpourri and old ladies. I snagged it the first time on a whim. The second time I noticed it was on clearance ... OH NO! ... and grabbed another bottle even though the other was still relatively full. And now? Gone. Never to be had again.

Don't companies realize that picky people like me need things that they like to be around FOREVER? (By the way, I do know that I will probably turn into an insane old lady.) There isn't always something better to replace it and then I'm stuck with mediocre crap that I don't like and dreaming about the good old days when stuff I liked was in stock.

A New Threat to Our Youth

I'm at the grocery store buying ingredients for funeral potatoes which I am making for a friend's birthday. Tom is there and we are in a hurry, arms full of sour cream, milk (because there is none in the house), hash browns, and cheese. As we approach the check stand we set our things down and I happen to see this on the rack:Oh. My. God. Were you aware of this danger to our (and by 'our' I mean society's) children? Tom and I were immediately horrified (and by 'horrified' I mean thought-it-was-ridiculous) and began reminiscing on why we hate Reader's Digest, as well as why we hate rampant sex-scandal paranoia. Tom scoffs, and then, using his best indignant woman voice, cries out, "Oh no!" I start laughing and as we turn to begin our approach to the cashier, we notice a different cashier from the aisle adjacent to ours glaring at us. Openly, un-apologetically glaring.

I guess she doesn't find sexting a laughing matter. And she's right. Please change the nation's threat level to RED.

PS: I don't appreciate Reader's Digest using an iPhone for the cover. First of all, most people who read Reader's Digest don't understand the wonder of the iPhone. Second of all, most people who are concerned about sexting don't understand the wonder of the iPhone. It's practically slander.

I Want It

I want this now.

But I will have to wait.

Don't worry --

My love will not diminish.

Dooney & Bourke

Medium Chiara Bag in Plum

How plumilicious.

Bangle Me

Okay, you can ignore this post on shopping.

I have a difficult time finding jewelry that I like because my taste is very particular and tends to be very expensive. Unfortunately, I have been plagued with this since I was a small child -- I always liked the most expensive thing, despite not knowing how much it was before I desperately fell in love with it.

And here are some expensive things that are absolutely fabulous and that I must have despite bank breaking or excess of bracelets...neither of which are true. Okay, that's a lie. But please.

Look at these beautiful things.

That last one is my personal fave. Looking at it makes me want to cry I want it so bad. You don't happen to have $120 lying around, do you?

Procrastishopping

Shopping at the last minute is great.
You have had all month to plan out what you're going to buy.
So your shopping is direct and quick.
You don't hate Christmas.

Searching

Please help me find the following items for my household:

• garbage cans - perfect in size and shape; non-offensive color; not too pricey (after all, it's for garbage)
• soap dispensers - beautiful and interesting; each shaped differently; color coordinated with its corresponding room
• dishes - red or with hints of red; modern or classic design (makes no difference); not too heavy; microwavable;

I've been searching high and low - but perhaps you have seen something higher or lower that meets these criteria. I want something I love love love but the search is wearing me down.

Shopping List

I'm a weird procrastinator. I will wait until the specified time I've designated in my own mind and then at that point, everything must be done. Of course, the designated point is generally the day/hour/minute before absolute breakdown. For example: shopping for Thanksgiving. I'm making all the side dishes and my mom is making the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. So, I have a lot of cooking to do and that means I have a lot of shopping to do because Tom and I don't have random Thanksgivingy foods lying about. I don't like to go this close to "the day" because it is usually a mad house with lots of women out for blood for the last cube of butter and then it's a race to a long line at the checkout stand but my procrastination told me to go today...and I have no say in the matter. To my joy - my local grocer had each and every checkout line open! Yay! Go team!

I love it when things work out in my favor.

Boooooring

God, I was so bored today, despite having accomplished quite a bit:

• laundry
• dishes
• tidy up the bedroom
• make the bed
• blogging

So to save myself I went to Target and shopped around. I bought some discount shirts. Yay. Sometimes I hate my days off because I get incredibly bored even if I have plenty of things to do. Does this happen to anyone else?

1 and 2

Whilst browsing for pics for my post about peeing, I found this: Yes, they are indeed stuffed pee and poo plush toys

which you can purchase.

Apparently Pee and Poo are friends

and live in a color coordinated magical world.

I gather that they are in love -

based on the hearts

and rainbows

and outstretched arms.

Look - Pee and Poo want to give you a hug.

A Neeeew Caaaaaar!

After shopping and browsing around A LOT,

we finally have a new car.

And not only is it new to us -

it is brand new to the world;

a lovely 2009 Hyundai Sonata.

Korean, just like me.

How cute.

Sweater Shopping

Fall is only fun if you have multiple sweaters to wear. Because let's face it, in the fall the majority of people only see the sweater you're wearing over your regular clothes which no longer provide sufficient warmth.

So I'm trying to look for sweaters that I a) don't hate; b) don't itch too horribly; c) don't cost too much. You see, sweaters are something I have a hard time spending money on.

I'm not sure why this is (I feel the same way about coats). I think it's something to do with outerwear. I can't stomach the money on a clothing item that is purely seasonal. Of course, the truth is: sweaters for me are not seasonal. I'm always cold so I am usually in need of sweaters year round - especially considering that central air conditioning works overtime to provide a breeze like winter air.

So. I've got to suck it up and invest in some nice sweaters to make fall fun and keep my arms warm. If you happen to see some cute, non-itchy ones at the right price lying around, drop me a line.

Test Drive

You know what is fun? Don't have kids - just borrow them. Today I took my niece to the mall. I had to babysit her anyway, so I figured we might as well have a good time. We were there for about 2 hours, just strolling around and browsing. I asked her if she liked the shoes I tried on, to which she replied, "Yeah." (Of course, I don't believe anyone under the age of 2, so I didn't buy them.) I don't see why people are always saying their kids are so difficult - I mean, 2 hours is the same as a lifetime, right?. She was practically silent the entire time; just some cooing and ooing and googling at the water fountain. People commented on how cute she was, then they'd look at me with a puzzled smile - not understanding why my kid was white (as I am clearly not white) and not understanding why I don't know the exact age of my own child. But it didn't matter because we just went on our merry way. Happy and shopping. I did make a few observations on our experience:

• It takes a while to get the stroller out and the kid in
• I had to keep getting out more goldfish/animal crackers from the diaper bag
• The stroller bumped into a lot of shit because my stroller steering skills are at like level 1
• The kid wanted to share lunch with me. What?
• I had to use the elevator
• When you get out to the car you have to start the car and AC, put the kid in the car seat, then put the stroller in - being sure to triple check that the doors are both open and unlocked - just in case something goes horribly wrong
• They will fall asleep on the drive home and you will not be able to take them out without waking them...sorry, Mom

All in all, it was a lovely day. Maybe we'll try for kids in a few years.

I Heart Target

Today I went to Target

The best store in the world

I was there for nearly 2 hours

I browsed and browsed
I bought essentials and non-essentials

And it was awesome

Target, I love you